Early signs of change: Six months on from the election

In this blog, Professor Stewart Robinson, Chair of the Chartered Association of Business Schools and Dean of Newcastle University Business School, looks back over the last six months for signs of change for HE and business schools since the election.

It is not necessarily bad news that hurts us, but uncertainty, and we have had plenty of that in the HE sector over recent years. Nearly six months on from the election we are starting to see the new Labour government show its hand.  I think it is fair to say that it has been something of a mixed bag for HE and with it business schools.

It is clear that learning and skills is high on the Government’s agenda. In support of this we have seen an increase in the tuition fee cap, rising to £9,535 from next September, and a 3.1% increase in student maintenance loans. This is positive in terms of helping to fund the costs of university degrees, but it does raise the burden on students. Of course, what was given with one hand was pretty much taken with the other because of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions announced in the Autumn Budget. Depending on the balance of employment costs, the net effect of the tuition fee and NI rises means that some institutions are marginally worse off, and others are marginally better off. At least the tuition fee rise shows a positive intent to start addressing the HE funding gap.

Beyond undergraduate funding, it was heartening to see budgets for R&D being protected after much speculation that these might be cut. The Government have also committed to launch the much-delayed Lifelong Learning Entitlement in January 2027. However, we await specific details. On the flip side, there remains uncertainty over the Government’s plans for the apprenticeship levy with a continued threat to the many very successful Level 7 apprenticeship programmes run by business schools. Meanwhile, the Small Business Charter received the great news that funding for Help to Grow: Management is to continue into 2025-26, enabling business schools to continue this support for SMEs. We have now had over 10,000 enrolments on HtGM and many stories of significant impacts on SMEs resulting from the training and support it has provided.

Policy on international students remains a challenging issue. Following the report from the MAC review in May, the new government has said (albeit maybe not loudly enough) that the graduate route will remain in place. However, the damaging ban on students bringing dependents to the UK remains in place. This is something that CABS continues to lobby policymakers about, but unfortunately the recent report attributing the decline in net migration to the dependents visa policy makes the task of lobbying much harder. Beyond this, rising costs of studying in the UK, slow visa processing and a less welcoming atmosphere continue to dog our attempts to reestablish international markets. 

It is clear that going forward the Government is expecting us to change. They have set out five priorities for universities:

• Play a stronger role in expanding access and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students;

• Make a stronger contribution to economic growth;

• Play a greater civic role in our communities;

• Raise teaching standards and drive out bad practice;

• Undertake an efficiency and reform programme.

Much of this is already being addressed by our members in the business school community, but we can expect more pressure to continue making these reforms. 

So overall a lot of uncertainty remains, and I think we all agree more needs to be done to shore up the future of our institutions.  What we know is that business schools are well placed to lead the way in creating a positive future for HE.